Features 4 Jun 2013

Industry Insight: Team Suzuki's Phil Tainton

ASBK factory Suzuki principal looks ahead to the next round on the calendar.

In the midst of a busy testing schedule we were able to catch up with Team Suzuki principal and master tuner Phil Tainton en route to Queensland Raceway.

Phil filled us in on the team’s progress in testing, what it’s like working with Wayne Maxwell and why he believes the current Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) rules should remain unchanged.

Team Suzuki are the reigning Australian Superbike Champions. Image: Andrew Gosling/TBG Sport.

Team Suzuki are the reigning Australian Superbike Champions. Image: Andrew Gosling/TBG Sport.

A fortnight ago yourself and the team were on track at Queensland Raceway for the open pre-event test. Can you fill us in on the progress made on the day?

Given that we have the extra two days this week we weren’t really trying to set the world on fire at that test. I think on unofficial times that Wayne  and Robbie [Bugden] were next in line behind Glenn [Allerton], which is good. We actually put in the new Dunlop tyre at the end there and maybe I didn’t factor enough time into the program for that, but it was interesting to see that both guys went quicker despite the limited laps. It’s good to have this small break between tests and we feel like we can instantly pick up where we left off last time out and keep moving forward.

For Wayne it was a good shakedown on the new bike at Queensland Raceway. He’s trying to be careful, he just wants to come away from each round with solid points and doesn’t want to do anything too silly and and learn the Suzuki which he’s doing really well. I’m more than happy with both guys’ progress, they work along together as a team really well.

Was there anything major on the clipboard that you needed to work on from Symmons Plains?

Look there’s things here and there but certainly nothing major. We have a pretty good benchmark with the bike and understand how it works. It was probably more of a case of getting Robbie settled back into his role as a factory rider again and also working with Wayne to improve the bike to his liking in the short amount of track time that we had.

Tainton is in charge of the factory fleet of GSX-Rs. Image: Andrew Gosling/TBG Sport.

Tainton is in charge of the factory fleet of GSX-Rs. Image: Andrew Gosling/TBG Sport.

What’s it like working with Wayne Maxwell? You’ve been ‘opposition’ in a sense for so many years – how has he adapted to the team and what does he bring to it?

He brings a maturity as a rider that we always had in Gilesy [Shawn Giles], and then when we nurtured Josh [Waters] along he was there as a mentor. The experience factor is everything. I think Wayne is an experienced guy. He’s not old in years obviously but he’s old in experience, I think he brings a lot to the team and I think we can work with him to move forward. I think once Wayne has got total confidence in that Suzuki you’ll see him move to the front. And Robbie of course has that enormous amount of experience too which solidifies our lineup. It’s great to be working with both of these guys.

There’s regular murmurs about updates or overhauls to the ASBK rules that could see the Superbike take on a more stock form. Do you think such a change is warranted?

I don’t think it needs changes. I’ve always voiced my opinion on the technical rules, so for the series I think they’re great. We’re in a tough economic time to be promoting motorcycle racing of any form. As far as technical rules go you’ve got a BMW leading it, Suzuki second and Honda third, and that could all change at any time or any track. I think the technical rules produce good parity. I think if we had a stock rule class then the fastest bike of that year would just dominate, therefore the interest wouldn’t be there. I think we should work with what we’ve got.

How closely are you involved with the Suzuki Superbike privateers, such as Ben Henry and Chas Hern? They both seem to run very professional operations.

We used to work pretty closely with Ben but he’s moved along and getting his own structure set up now. We’re trying to help Chas where we can but once again it’s their team so they like to do their own thing. We try to help where we can, and have been working a bit with him this week to get ready. He’s a really nice guy and promotes the brand really well, and I think he can do really well in this championship. The only thing with privateers is that they haven’t got the expertise of technicians around them to try to help when times get tough. But he has a good base and is very enthusiastic.

Thanks for the chat Phil. Safe drive to Queensland!

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